Predators rally, beat Flyers 6-5 winning 4th straight home openers under Laviolette

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  — The Western Conference banner went up and the home team returned to the loudest stadium of fans to win in a thrilling finish.

Nashville has now won all four home openers under Head Coach Peter Laviolette and have now been victorious in eight of their last 11 home openers overall.

Mike Fisher , the captain who retired in August , joined current captain Roman Josi in unveiling the banner before it was raised to the rafters. Then country star Trace Adkins performed the national anthem, and Nashville’s mayor came out to wave a towel as the Predators continued their playoff tradition for at least the home opener. Rights Reserved-Hillsboro Globe Mike Strasinger

All in all, a perfect night for the Nashville Predators and their fans.

Flip Forsberg scored his second goal with 35.6 seconds left and the Predators rallied by scoring twice in the final 1:17 to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-5 on Tuesday for their first victory of the season. “This season, being down 0-2, it was a huge game for us,” Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne said. “Good start to the game and then let it slip a little bit and then a huge comeback. I feel like we’ve done that many times. It’s a pretty hard way to play. Emotionally and everything, it was a big win for us.”

Nashville defenseman, 19 year old Samuel Girard, stepped in for Captain Roman Josi and got the secondary assist on Forsberg’s first goal. “He was very impressive and fun to watch,” Rinne said of Girard. “He played with a lot of confidence, and you couldn’t tell it was his first game the way he was very poised and the decisions he made. He looked guys off, spun around with the puck, and made good first passes. I’m very happy for him, I’m sure he was nervous, but he didn’t show it. I was very impressed.”

The Predators skated in hungry scoring 3 goals in the first period, but their energy deflated along with the 7th Man as the Preds blew a 3-0 lead.

Flyers scored five straight goals to take a 5-3 lead and momentum.

Predators improve on Power Play

Waking up the crowd, Forsberg scored his first goal of the game 50 seconds after the Flyers took a 5-3 lead and Scott Hartnell, the oldest player on the team, jammed in his second goal tying it with 1:17 left on a 5-on-3 that was actually 6-on-3 with Rinne pulled.

Forsberg scored the winning goal top shelf after the Flyer’s coach Dave Hakstol challenged for offside and lost. That gave the Predators a one man advantage.

Other Scoring

Craig Smith and Nick Bonino also scored, and P.K. Subban had three assists for Nashville. Forsberg also had an assist on Hartnell’s tying goal as Nashville won its fifth straight home opener.

Valtteri Filppula scored twice for the Flyers, and Andrew McDonald, Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny each added a goal. Philadelphia finished 2-2 on its first four-game road trip to open a season since 1971.

Then the Predators gave their fans reason to keep cheering, with Smith scoring a power-play goal with a wrister past Brian Elliott at 4:17 of the first period. That gave Nashville its first lead this season, and the Predators took eight of the first 10 shots.

Nashville scored first in the second period, too. Hartnell beat Elliott with a slap shot off the rebound of teammate Pontus Aberg’s shot at 3:08 for a 2-0 lead. Matters Ekholm skated across the crease, and his backhand shot went off Elliott to Bonino, who easily tapped the puck in for a 3-0 lead and his first goal since leaving Pittsburgh for Nashville this offseason.

Then the Flyers turned the celebration into a game. McDonald scored his first goal on a slap shot at 10:19, and Patrick, the second overall pick in the June draft, got his first career goal 16 seconds later on a wrister. Philadelphia took advantage of its third power play in the period when Filppula scored on a wrister at 15:05, tying it at 3.

Konecny scored on a breakaway at 5:03 followed by Filppula’s power-play goal for a 5-3 lead that seemed safe until Forsberg pulled Nashville within a goal 50 seconds later to set up the amazing finish. “Obviously, a crazy comeback,” Forsberg said.

The Flyers picked up two penalties on the same play with 2:41 left, giving Nashville a 5-on-3 advantage. Hakstol lost his challenge for offside, and a delay-of-game penalty gave Nashville the man advantage. “We gave it away,” Elliott said.

NOTES:

• The Flyers were 4-0-1 in their previous five games against Nashville.
• Rinne came in needing only three saves for 13,000 in his career. He reached that mark in the first period, making nine saves.
• Eleven of the 18 skaters for Philadelphia had at least one point.

UP NEXT

Flyers: Host the Washington Capitals in their home opener Saturday night.
Predators: Host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.